Spontooneous

Have you tried contacting the label directly about "Solo Ballads 2"? Might be worth a try. They're here.

Maybe, just maybe, music doesn't EXPRESS anything but music.

I'm a-downloadin'. Thanks!

I'll second what NIS said. Even without Misha, the band was definitely ON in Des Moines.

OK, here goes. 1. Not much to say about this one, except that the trombone solo is serious as a heart attack. Some of the rest seems a little academic. 2. Circa 1927. The arranger does a good job of imitating what Don Redman was doing with Fletcher Henderson four years earlier (dig those intricate interludes between choruses). 3. Circa 1929. It does a nice job of getting that McKinney's Cotton Pickers feel, but I don't think it's them. The looseness is appealing, and really pretty rare for recordings of the time. OK, you musicologists out there: What's the earliest recording of people clapping on the backbeat? 4. "Darktown Strutters Ball," circa 1936. Slightly militaristic drumming. Is that the real Coleman Hawkins or a good imitation? Is this one of Hawkins' recordings from Europe? 5. We're up to circa 1938. The clarinet makes me think this is Artie Shaw. Beautiful. 6. At first, sounds like a Raymond Scott concoction (love the bowed bass). After a minute, it loosens up nicely. No guess. 7. That hooting sound in the sax section makes me think that Tex Beneke is involved. 8. Hot Ptah already nailed it. I've always loved Eddie South and his big, rich tone. And that geetar player. 9. It's gotta be Bechet, though I can't identify the individual side. I love how he takes his time and lets this one build up before he even comes in. And when he does, the temperature shoots up. Maybe his horn bullied the rest of the band sometimes, but on this one he's leading by persuasion. This is powerful stuff. 10. I still think it's an Edmond Hall quartet with Teddy Wilson, probably on Commodore. 11. Once upon a time, this kind of music was a very good idea. It's Track 9 here. 12. Julia Lee for Capitol, with Red Norvo and Benny Carter. 13. That's gotta be Benny Goodman. If not, it's somebody who's studied BG's motor habits very closely. Is this from the Yale Archives series? 14. Back Water Blues. Is that Maria Muldaur? Not her best work; to sing this powerful song, you have to stand back and let the words do the work. Is that Bob Brozman on dobro? 15. Maybe the same session as 14? I like the singing MUCH better here. 16. Don't have much to say about this one. The close, flat recording is very unflattering to the clarinet and guitar. I like the bassist. 17. The only thing on here that's really too retro for me. Do they really have to put all that skill to work on such a lame old tune? 18. A few times I think there's more than two hands on the keyboard here. It's lovely, a fearsome display of chops, but there's much more to it than that. This is a good time, and I'll be eagerly waiting the reveal! Thanks, Alex. (Edited to fix a botched link.)

More later, but quickly for now: Is 10 one of the Edmond Hall quartets with Teddy Wilson? I'd have to turn in my Kansas City credentials if I didn't recognize Julia Lee on 12. This is fun, Alex!

The Plaza III? On a Sunday afternoon, I think? Good times.

6. "Animal Dance" (John Lewis), John Lewis and Albert Mangelsdorff, from "Animal Dance," originally an Atlantic LP, this transfer from Collectables COL-CD-6253. Lewis, p; Mangelsdorff, tb; Karl Theodor Geier, b; Silvijc Glojnaric, d. The CD doesn't give a date; an online search suggests July 30, 1962. A palate-cleanser after the set of blues. I like the tune because it doesn't sound like a John Lewis tune, or anybody else's tune. The piano solo certainly does sound like him, though. Wonder why he drops out toward the end? Mangelsdorff is pretty fine here, and the rhythm section doesn't do much damage. Check the Modern Jazz Quartet's "Lonely Woman" album for another version of this tune. 7. "Mr. Cheese," Milt Ward, from "Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum," Twin Quest LP 1116. The cover gives this composite personnel, and just about everybody seems to be on this cut: Ward, tp, flh; Carlos Garnett, ts; Bill Pierce, ts, ss; Eddie Alex, as, fl; Glenn Barbour, bars; Delmar Brown, p, elp, synth; Coucho Martinez, Fender b; Cecil McBee, acoustic b; Ignacio Mena, perc; Hugh Peterson, d. Recorded circa 1977. Cover gives no date; label has copyright date 1777 (love that early post-colonial jazz!), and the artwork is dated 1976. I made the digital transfer from an LP belonging to another board member. This is probably the rarest track of the bunch. Ward was from Boston, and the LP, which looks homemade, probably wasn't distributed widely. But it's an ambitious thing! And never more ambitious than in this crazy opening cut, with its wandering theme, its strange arrangement, and its lovely groove and committed blowing. I'm not sure which of the two tenors takes the solo; maybe Carlos Garnett, because Bill Pierce would have been a mere pup when this was recorded. Cecil McBee has perhaps the strongest solo of the bunch, and Thom Keith picked him out, which blows my mind. Yes, Milt Ward does sound like Woody Shaw, here and elsewhere on the album. The rest of the album is just about on this level – interesting for the writing, the blowing and the synthesizer touches. It can be found in the blogosphere, and I recommend grabbing it if you find it. Ward's discography is scanty; it includes an appearance on a David Newman Atlantic album. Apprently he died in the 1980s. That's about all I know. So "Mr. Cheese" is a frustrating glimpse of what might have been. I wanted to be sure some people heard it. 8 "Bye-Ya" (Monk), Anthony Coleman Trio, from "Sephardic Tinge," Tzadik TZ-7102. Coleman, p; Greg Cohen, b; Joey Baron, d. New York, Dec 29, 1993. Anthony Coleman writes in the liner notes that in many people's minds, klezmer music is a symbol of New York Jewish culture, but to him it's a poor symbol of a "hybrid and fragmented" culture. Thinking back on the music he heard growing up, he recalled mambos and cha-chas. He aimed to explore Spanish-Sephardic-American connections in this album. I'm especially fond of what Joey Baron plays here, not so much a Latin groove as a 1927 junkyard groove. It's a sound I heard in a dream once but hadn't heard in the physical world until this CD came along. 9 "Ol' Man River" (Kern, arr. Errol Parker), Errol Parker Tentet, from "A Night in Tunisia," Sahara 1015. Parker, dm; Philip Harper (solo) and Michael Thomas, tp; Doug Harris, ss; Donald Harrison, as; Bill Saxton, ts; Patience Higgins, bars; Tyrone Jefferson, tb; Cary De Nigris, g; Reggie Washington, el b. New York, April 9, 1991. Errol Parker was a pianist for most of his career, but in later years he turned to drumming. By this time, he was using a conga in place of a snare in his kit. His piano playing reflected a fascination with polytonality that also came through in his arrangements for the Tentet. And as he loved simultaneous keys, he loved simultaneous solos. Maybe a little goes a long way, but a little can really good sometimes. There are quite a few self-produced quick-and-dirty Parker recordings on his Sahara label -- and I wish I liked some of the others as much as I like this one. 10 "Willow Weep for Me," Ethel Ennis, from "If Women Ruled the World," Savoy CY-18088. Ennis, v; Marc Copland, p; Ron McClure, b; Billy Hart, d. New York, Feb. 11 or 12, 1998. Ennis was born in 1932, and signed a record deal with Savoy in the 1950s. She also recorded for Atlantic, Capitol, Jubilee and RCA. Mostly she's been back home in Baltimore – but when Savoy was re-launched for a little while in the '90s, somebody remembered, and this recommendable album was the result. Is it a mismatch of singer and rhythm section? I don't think so, but you're free to disagree. She might be a little unsure at first, but by the end, she seems to be completely in charge, and inspired by her surroundings. Let's hear it for Marc Copland! (Can't make this cover image work.) 11 "Cavernism" (Hines), Earl Hines and his Orchestra, originally Decca 78 #183, this echoey transfer from Classics CD 528. Hines, p; Charlie Allen, George Dixon, Walter Fuller, tp; Louis Taylor, William Franklin, Trummy Young, tb; Darnell Howard, cl, as, vn; Omer Simeon, cl, as, bar; Cecil Irwin, cl, ts; Lawrence Dixon, g; Quinn Wilson, b; Wallace Bishop, d. Chicago, Sept. 13, 1934. Sorry about that fakey echo; this was the only digital transfer I could find. Still, the performance comes through pretty well. After the leader, Walter Fuller and young Trummy Young solo, it's Darnell Howard on violin, and extra credit to anyone who picks up on his Dvorak quote. You should also hear the other side of the 78, "Angry," where Howard blows a very intricate clarinet solo and the leader's solo is even better. 12 "Salz" (Misha Mengelberg), Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, from self-titled ECM 1409. Alexander von Schlippenbach, cond; Benny Bailey, Thomas Heberer, Henry Lowther, tpts; Kenny Wheeler, tp, flh; Paul van Kemenade, Felix Wahnschaffe, as; Gerd Dudek, ss, ts, cl, fl; Walter Gauchel, ts; E.L. Petrowsky, bars; Willem Breuker, bars, bcl; Henning Berg, Hermann Breuer, Hubert Katzenbeier, tbns; Utz Zimmermann, bass tbn; Misha Mengelberg, Aki Takase, p; Gunter Lenz, b; Ed Thigpen, d. May 1989, Berlin. Solos by Breuker (bcl), Benny Bailey, Gerd Dudek (ts). OK, it's got a few problems, notably the inability of the rhythm section to agree on the tempo until halfway through. How odd to hear Ed Thigpen in this context. Still, I love the Dadaistic way the whole composition fits together, from the opening fanfare, to the Kansas City riff that jumps out of nowhere, to the ending that makes it all work somehow. I'm assuming it's Mengelberg on piano on this one. 13 "You Ain't Gonna Know Me 'Cos You Think You Know Me" (Mongezi Feza), Louis Moholo Octet, from "Spirits Rejoice!", Ogun OGCD 018. Evan Parker, ts; Kenny Wheeler, tp; Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti, tbn; Keith Tippett, p; Johnny Dyani, Harry Miller, b; Moholo, d. London, 1978. My favorite thing here, and apparently a favorite of some other listeners. I love the circular tune of seven bars (or 14, or 3 and a half, depending on how you count it). Can't say I know which trombonist is which, or which bassist is which – if anybody knows, please post! -- but I love the whole ensemble sound. This CD has been the single most-played disc at my house in the last couple of years. It's probably become my favorite acoustic jazz disc of the 1970s. 14. "Sometimes I" (Dick Griffin), Hilton Ruiz, from the same disc as Track 1. The content of BFT 84 was selected quite a few months ago, and it's just a coincidence that it repeats a dirty trick from BFT 83 and uses two tunes from the same disc. This is another very likable Dick Griffin tune. We don't think of Sam Rivers as a ballad player, but here you go. Is the piano accompaniment a little rococo? I don't mind. Many thanks to all who participated. There's some good ears attached to some good people in this community. Edited to fix some busted cover images.

1. "Come Dance With Me" (Dick Griffin), Hilton Ruiz, from "El Camino (The Road)," RCA-Novus 3024-2-N. Ruiz, p; Sam Rivers, ts; Dick Griffin, tb; Lew Soloff, tp; Rodney Jones, g; Andy Gonzalez, b; Steve Berrios, d and guiro; Jerry Gonzalez, cga, perc; Endel Dueno, timbales; Jose Alexias Diaz, perc, cgas. Oct. 15, 1987. Some people found it too slick. I like the tune itself (so, apparently does Thom Keith, who recognized it right away), I like hearing Sam Rivers in this context, I love the way the rhythm section works -- and doggone it, I like Hilton's piano. Especially the way in this solo he's nice for a few bars, naughty for a few bars. (Thom finds the solo ham-handed, I find it endearing.) The whole CD or LP is pretty wonderful, as long as you skip the opening tune, which is as creaky and academic as anything to come out of Lincoln Center. 2 "Curved Space" (Joanne Brackeen), Joanne Brackeen, p, from "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall," Concord CCD-4409. Berkeley, Calif., June 1989. How 'bout that killin' 6/4 funk groove? Maybe the solo above it could be better (and I'd swear it, Brackeen played this even better on a visit to Kansas City circa 1990). But the groove gets me every time. I've spent a lot of time arranging this tune for the band in my brain. 3 Study No. 3A, Conlon Nancarrow, from Studies for Player Piano Vols. 1 and 2 (there are five volumes), Wergo WER 6169-2. Piano roll punched by Nancarrow in the 1940s. Played back and recorded on a custom-altered 1927 Ampico Reproducing piano at Nancarrow's home in Mexico City, January 1988. Composer Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) wanted to explore realms of rhythm and texture beyond what human players can reliably execute. So in the 1940s, he turned to the player piano. There are about 60 of these studies, featuring dense canons, highly complex tempo relationships, and sometimes precisely controlled gradual tempo changes. But this early study uses the 12-bar blues as a launching pad, a boogie-woogie to the Nth degree. I love the buildup of layers starting about 2:30. Sure, it's mechanical, but I find it more human than mechanical. Certainly the very human sense of fun is still there. The idea of placing Nancarrow in a Blindfold Test is completely stolen from another O-board member who shall remain nameless. 4 "Cathedral Blues" (Tiny Parham), Tiny Parham and his Musicians, originally Victor 78 V-38111, this transfer from Timeless CBC 1-022. Parham, p, cel; Punch Miller, ct; Charles Lawson, tb; unknown, cl, as, ts; Elliot Washington, vn; Mike McKendrick, bj; Quinn Wilson, bb; Ernie Marrero, d. Chicago, Dec. 3, 1929. I like Punch Miller's solo, and the resourceful use of the studio's celesta. And how 'bout that intro and outro? Was Tiny Parham (that's him in Medjuck's avatar) thinking of the Dresden Amen? 5 "Trenches" (Turner Parrish), Turner Parrish, originally Champion 78 16645, this transfer from "Barrelhouse Piano Blues and Stomps," Document DOCD-5193. Solo piano, Richmond, Ind., Jan. 13, 1933. Our set of blues concludes with a boogie-woogie that's all too human, as a counterweight to the mechanical Nancarrow. Turner Parrish, who may have been from Chicago, did a couple of sessions for Gennett-Champion and then disappeared into history. Is he brilliantly integrating eight-bar and twelve-bar choruses, or is he getting lost, playing faster than he can play? I don't know, but it's endlessly fascinating. (To Jeff and any other 78 collectors: We'll probably never see a Champion original, but watch for the 78 reissue in a Decca boogie-woogie collection.) Edited to fix a cover image.

The Big Reveal arrives on Tuesday, March 29. No one will be admitted during the thrilling shower scene.

Never thought I'd look forward to a jazz event in Des Moines as much as I'm anticipating this one!

I've listened to this track several times this afternoon because it really sounds familiar. But nothing clicks. In the far reaches of my poor addled brain something says this reminds me of a Mike Nock album I haven't listened to in years (style not instrumentation) but as I say, I haven't listened to it for awhile. I think I would have liked this more in the "old days". On the other hand, i don't think this is that strange or that odd of a duck. Why do you think that it is? No Mike Nock connection as far as I know, but now you're making me want to give the Mike Nock records another spin. This one's probably the rarest tune in the batch, from a homemade-looking LP that wasn't distributed widely. For the first two minutes, there isn't much about it that isn't strange, is there? The flute melody that doesn't settle down anywhere, the baritone-sax interruptions, the added parts that seem to come out of nowhere... Once you get past the shout section and that Red Clay-like groove starts, it locks in nicely, though. The piece flirts with being over-written and over-arranged. It wobbles but it never tips over. The leader and composer is quite unknown, and that's a shame. That's why I'm trying to draw attention to this one.

Welcome, and stick around! Glad you like 7. Two tenor players are credited on the original disc, neither of them Harold. Frankly I'm not sure which of the two it is, though I have a guess. Not Frank on 13, but come to think of it, it does sound like him. (I thought a bunch of people had this record and would have identified this one by now, but apparently I was wrong. Y'all are missing out on a fantastic album here.) This willow doesn't weep for Nnenna Freelon, but the singer would probably be pleased at the comparison.

Track 10 is a very unlikely match-up of singer and band. I don't know of anything else like it. Anybody have more to say about the very strange No. 7?

I'm in, for a download. Meanwhile, we still ain't done with BFT 84.

Oh boy. The newspaper industry is saved.

Not a tin-eared comparison at all. Carla likes bottom-heavy brass textures like this. Hadn't thought of the parallel, but it's there. I'm glad that #13 is resonating with people. You still planning on going to ICP Orchestra in Des Moines, NIS? Beer after the show, maybe?

Thanks for any and all listens. Yeah, those first few bars are close to cheesy, but it perks up nicely. C'mon back when you can.

A friend urged me to try oregano oil as a natural antibiotic. It successfully fought a nasal-sinus-throat infection that was messing up my hearing even more than I realized at the time.

That's beautiful. Thank you, Cary!

Happy Birthday Keeski and Big Spider Beck!

Not Hal, but the player is almost an exact contemporary.

So is this guy kin to Lou McGarity?

Thanks. Keep playing my CD-R like I'm playing yours!